Old Wives' Tales

Old Wives’ Tales examines the history of remedies, charms and spells, placing women healers, midwives and household practitioners within the wider story of medicine. Mary Chamberlain considers how cures and beliefs were transmitted, particularly through oral traditions passed from mother to daughter, and asks what lies behind the familiar label of an ‘old wives’ tale’. Examples range from dandelions linked with bed-wetting and stewed prunes used for constipation to eel liver recommended for difficult labour.

Drawing on archival material, original texts and conversations with women in both towns and rural communities, Chamberlain considers the relationship between practical treatment, magical thinking and religious belief. The book also questions how orthodox medical history has treated female knowledge, presenting these remedies as evidence of changing ideas about health, authority and experience.